Green Tea
by MadiWillow
Summary: Failing your math final? Two weeks of grounding. Stuck inside during a rainstorm? One day of severe boredom. Finding a new favorite dessert, courtesy of the bitchy Drama Queen? Priceless. OneShot. For Desiree Lemmon in Vrai Amour's Fic Exchange.


**AN:** This story is for Vrai Amour's Fanfic Exchange, for Desireé Lemmon. :)

Desireé! I was very happy that I got you for the fic exchange. So, as you can tell from the summary, it's Chadpay. Sorry it's not Troyella :( but I figured the story would turn out better if I wrote for the couple I liked more. And besides, you said either/or. :) I hope you enjoy this!

And everyone else, I guess.

**Title: **_Green Tea  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Failing your math final? Two weeks of grounding. Stuck inside during a rainstorm? One day of severe boredom. Finding a new favorite dessert, courtesy of the bitchy Drama Queen? Priceless.  
_**Genre:** _Romance  
_**Chapter: **_OneShot_

"I cannot _believe_ my luck."

--

Chad Danforth was not having a very good day.

Christmas vacation had just begun, and one would think that Chad would be over the moon. Any student would be, really. But no; instead, his day was going absolutely horrible.

Right before the final bell rang, Chad received the grade for his math final, only to find a big, fat red F awaiting him. Knowing that his parents would murder him, he tried to hide the test at the bottom of his backpack. But Chad failed math for a reason – he was not very intelligent. Throwing the paper away at school would have been a better solution, as his mother found the test when she was cleaning out his backpack.

"Richard!" Alicia's voice trilled throughout the house. "Richard, I have to show you something!"

Chad's father trudged up the stairs unhappily, as he was the polar opposite of his son and hated being active. Just the act of walking up steps could ruin his mood for an entire day.

His parents were upstairs for a half an hour, talking quietly, and Chad was so immersed in his episode of "Family Guy" that he did not even think twice about what they could possibly have been doing.

However, his world came crashing down when they descended the stairs, Alicia clutching his bomb of a math test in her hand.

"I found this, Chad," she said simply, holding up the crumpled test for him to see. Even from ten feet away, the red F could be see clearly, like it was written in fire.

"...oh," was all Chad said.

Richard scowled at his son. "Is that all you have to say?" he asked. "'Oh'? Son, you failed math."

Chad nodded. "I know. But, really, when am I gonna use cosine graphs or measurements of pi in the real world, right?"

"That's beside the point," retorted Richard. "If you want to go to a good school, you can't be failing courses you deem unimportant."

"If I failed all unimportant classes," pointed out Chad, "my GPA would be zero."

Richard glared, but Alicia stepped between the two men. "Chad, if you fail math again, you'll get kicked off the basketball team."

The color drained from the teenage boys face. "Wh-what?"

"That's the only word the boy understands," snarled Richard distastefully. "I say we take away basketball, anyway."

"No!" shouted Chad desperately. "I'll bring my grades up, I promise!" He jumped up and threw his arms around his father's large frame.

Richard's face registered a look of utmost contempt as he threw his son off him. "We know you'll get your grades up, boy," he spat. "We got you a tutor."

Chad stepped back, looking between his parents. People like him did not get _tutors_. Troy Bolton does not need a tutor, so why should he have to get one?

"Because Troy Bolton didn't fail math, did he?" Alicia reminded him. Chad furrowed his brow, unaware that he had spoken aloud. "You have a meeting with him today," she continued.

"Today!?" gaped Chad, his voice cracking. "But... it's break!"

Richard smirked, enjoying the sight of his son squirming. "Well, if you hadn't failed math, you would be relaxing right now."

Chad shot one last glare at his parents before turning on his heel and storming away. He marched up the stairs loudly, like a child denied dessert, mumbling under his breath the entire way.

--

He didn't think his day could get any worse, but it did.

Oh, did it ever.

Right before Chad left to go to his tutor's house, he asked who, in fact, his tutor was.

It was then that Alicia spoke those dreaded words.

"Ryan Evans."

Chad had nearly fainted when the words tumbled out of her mouth. Ryan Evans? Since when was Ryan Evans gifted in the art of mathematics? Since when did Ryan Evans tutor? Since when did any student on the face of the earth decide to tutor people during _Christmas vacation_?

He drove through a light drizzle all the way to the Evans' mansion, damning his parents to hell the entire way. He concluded that he wasn't only looking forward to his parents' deaths for the inheritance money, but also to see them burn.

As Chad parked in front of Ryan's house, he spied an all-too-familiar pink convertible parked in the driveway. It was raining fairly hard by that point, and Chad beamed with glee as he noticed that Sharpay Evans had neglected to put the top up on her car. As he passed it, he smirked somewhat triumphantly at the sight of her leather interior ruining before his eyes.

His mood had increased significantly after that, so he had a jovial smile upon his face when he knocked and when Sharpay answered.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped. "If you're here to make out, the answer's probably no."

Chad chuckled; Sharpay's insults were of no meaning to him on this particular day. "I'm here for Ryan," he said. Then, deciding that he wanted to see her reaction when she found her ruined car, he added, "I think your car is getting wet."

"Well, of course it's --" she began to snarl, but froze when she saw the thick raindrops pelting on the inside of her vehicle. "Oh, my God!" she shrieked, a blood-curdling yell that Chad was sure dogs could hear some miles away. She pushed past Chad, making a beeline to her soaked car.

Laughing good-naturedly, Chad slipped inside the house, his shoes making squelching noises on the hard, tile floor. He tossed his wet jacket on the bannister, allowing it to drip onto the off-white carpet. He shook his head so that bits of water from his hair flew in every direction.

"Ryan, you here?" Chad shouted. He didn't bother taking his shoes off and created a wet trail throughout the house. He poked his head inside the kitchen, finding no one. The living room welcomed the same results.

When Chad walked back into the foyer, scratching his head in confusion, Sharpay stomped inside. Her blonde hair was damp and matted down to her head. Her makeup had trickled down her face and her clothes were soaked.

"Did you save it?" asked Chad, smirking. Sharpay turned to glare at him, and he realized that she was wearing a white t-shirt. His eyes slowly slid from her eyes to her chest.

"I'll have to see in the morning," Sharpay spat. She waited expectantly for him to respond, and after a few seconds, noticed where his gaze was. She let out a shriek of frustration and spun around quickly, marching up the steps.

"Hey!" Chad called, jogging over to the foot of the stairs. "Is Ryan here?" he shouted after her.

"No!" she yelled.

Chad frowned deeply. "Where is he?"

"He went to Gabriella's house for his math notes! He didn't think he was gonna get stuck tutoring a dumbass during his Christmas break."

Scowling, he shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets. Great. He was going to have to waste more of his time as the Evans' oh-so-lovely abode, and, better yet, with Sharpay.

"He's the nerd that tutors during vacation," he grumbled distastefully.

Sharpay appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in dry sweats and a sweatshirt with her sopping hair pulled back into a bun. She trotted with the stairs with a raised eyebrow. "And _you're_ the dumbass that failed math. Plus, your parents are paying Ryan, like, three hundred bucks."

Chad's jaw dropped. "_What_!?" he yelped. "But... you guys don't even _need_ money! I could've used that!"

She smirked. "Too bad."

The home phone rang loudly, and Sharpay picked up the receiver in the foyer. While Chad sat on the bottom step and pouted, she answered, "Hello? Hey, Ry. You're what? No! Chad's here! ... oh, please, I'm sure the roads aren't that bad. You're not gonna crash; how many people _really_ get into car accidents?" She growled in annoyance and glowered at Chad, as if he was causing the annoyance coming with the phone call. "Fine! Fine. How long? ... A FEW HOURS!? You have to be joking. Ugh, fine!" She slammed the phone down loudly back into its cradle and folded her arms over her chest, fuming.

Chad looked up at Sharpay impatiently. "What?"

"Apparently," she mumbled bitterly, "the storm is really bad and the roads are closed. He's stuck at Gabriella's house for the next two hours. Which means..." she narrowed her eyes, "you're stuck here."

It took approximately three seconds for her words to register in Chad's brain.

"I'm WHAT!?" he exclaimed, jumping up. "No. No, no, no, I'm _not_ staying here with you. No way."

"Then go!" she said quickly. "You're a good driver, right? You won't crash. And even if you do, what are the chances of you dying?"

"They're really slim," said Chad factually.

Sharpay nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so just go!"

Finally reaching an accord, they strode purposefully to the front door. Just as Chad was about to open it, though, his cell phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"CHAD, DO NOT LEAVE THAT HOUSE."

Chad had jumped at the sound of his mother's piercing yells, and held the phone about a foot away from his ear. "What?" he yelled.

"THIS IS THE WORST STORM SINCE 1989; YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE."

Sharpay looked panic-stricken. "Don't you want him with you?" she persisted. "Chad might get scared, and after hell freezes over, I _still_ won't comfort him."

"No. Chad Richard Dandforth, you are not to leave that house, or so help me."

"So help you what?" asked Chad fearfully, but he never found out what, as his mother hung up.

He slowly closed his flip-phone and he and Sharpay stared at each other for a few moments.

"Oh, my God," she said at last.

--

"I cannot _believe_ my luck."

Chad and Sharpay didn't know what to do. They were complete opposites; they never spent time together and had exchanged a total of ten words before that day. Chad had always hoped to coast through life without ever spending more than the necessary amount of time with her, and just the fact that he was at her house was enough to life him five lifetimes.

"Your luck? What about my luck?" retorted Sharpay. "A good hostess keeps her guests entertained. How am I going to keep _you_ entertained? As big as my house may be, we don't have a basketball court built inside here."

Chad had left halfway through her spiel and wandered into the living room. Once Sharpay realized his missing presence, she trotted after him to find him flipping through the channels on her high-definition TV.

"Do you have high-def ESPN?"

"Duh." She stepped forward and jerked the remote from his hands. "But we're not watching that."

He opened his mouth huffily. "And why not?"

"Because I don't want to and it's my house?" she guessed sarcastically. She flopped onto the couch next to him and searched through the movie channels.

"'The Sound of Music'? No way."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I'm just looking, okay? Calm down."

He pointed suddenly to the screen. "X-Men! Put that on!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!"

"What _do_ you want?"

Sharpay didn't answer immediately; she continued changing channels until she happily settled on a movie.

"Atonement? You can't be for real."

She looked at him, affronted. "It's a good movie!"

"It's a sappy love movie!"

Snorting, Sharpay said, "They die at the end!"

"It's still a love movie!"

"Well, we're not watching X-Men. Or Spiderman or Batman," she added.

"Well, I'm not watching Atonement!"

"Fine!"

Sharpay switched the TV off and the two sat defiantly, shoulders touching, arms crossed, not speaking.

"I'm hungry," said Chad shortly.

"I don't care."

"So you won't care if I raid your pantry?"

She leered at him for a minute, and then stood up. She silently walked into the kitchen, Chad trailing her – his annoyance had quickly morphed into eagerness.

Sharpay opened the refrigerator and pulled out a box with Japanese writing on it. Chad looked on suspiciously as she poured two glasses of milk and placed them on the kitchen table. He grabbed the glass and chugged half the liquid in a matter of seconds.

"You're gross," Sharpay said simply.

"No, I'm thirsty," he replied, wiping his mouth. "What's in here?"

"Food." She lifted the lid off the box to reveal an assortment of golf ball sized finger foods. The colors varied from light pink, cream, and moss green, and they were slightly frozen.

Chad stared for a few seconds and then lifted his gaze up to meet Sharpay's. "What the hell is this?"

"Mochi ice cream," she explained. "It's amazing. They sell it here, but my parents get it imported specially from Japan."

"What for?" asked Chad dubiously.

"Because they make it better there," she responded obviously.

He reached out and poked one of the cream ones; it was ice cold. "Yuck."

"You haven't even tried it yet." Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"And I'm not going to."

"Uh, yes you are. Eat the one you touched."

"No!"

"Yes! You can't touch food and not eat it!"

Chad narrowed his eyes. Sharpay stared back.

"Fine," he snapped. "I'll eat it."

He cautiously reached into the box and picked up the ball he previously touched, holding it out in front of his face and studying it briefly. Sharpay scoffed, annoyed, and slumped back in her chair to watch his progress.

Chad brought the food up to his mouth and carefully, slowly, took a bite. A shiver ran through his teeth and down his spine as his front two teeth – which were quite sensitive – sunk into the food. He chewed calculatingly, his mouth trying to get used to the foreign compilation of the doughy exterior and vanilla ice cream filled core.

"It's okay," he concluded at last. However, he thought it was much more than okay and popped the rest of it into his mouth.

Sharpay rolled her eyes again, but she had a small smile on her face. She reached for a green one and bit into it. "So," she said, "what made you fail math?"

Chad picked a strawberry flavor one next. "The fact that they give tests and homework."

"It's really not that hard," Sharpay said. "If you spend time working on it during, and outside of, class, that is."

Nodding, Chad said, "Well, that's the problem."

"I didn't know you were so lazy."

"I'm not lazy," he said defensively, "I'd just rather play basketball and Xbox."

"And that is why you will amount... to nothing," she said dramatically.

Chad pouted. "I will to."

"I doubt it," sneered Sharpay. "You invest so much time in basketball. You probably won't get drafted in the NBA, and then you'll be nothing."

He glared at her. "Well, what about you?" he scorned. "Broadway isn't exactly a guaranteed career either."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and brought her legs up on the chair, her knees pressed against her torso. "Yeah, but I'm good enough."

"And I'm not?"

"Nope."

For a moment, Chad got very angry; but then he thought of a statement that might just push Sharpay over the edge.

"I'm thinking Gabriella might have you beat..."

Her cheeks suddenly inflamed, burning bright red fire. "Gabriella Montez is not going to beat me in the theatre. The winter musical was a technicality. I will regain my title with the upcoming show." She glared off at nothing in particular as she continued her rant. "Montez and Troy Bolton are worthless. They mean nothing to me or the world of theatre. They are horrible people who want nothing more than to ruin other people's lives. And you're just as bad – you're Troy's best friend, and all you want is to --"

Sharpay was silenced by Chad's rough lips on hers. She stopped talking instantly, thoroughly and completely shocked. The kiss was short and relatively tame; Chad drew away after a few seconds and settled back into his chair, grabbed another mochi, and took a bite as if nothing had happened.

"What... what was..." began Sharpay weakly.

"You wouldn't shut up," he said irritably.

Her hand fluttered up to her mouth as her fingers grazed over her lips. "So that was why you..."

He looked at her as if she was insane. "Why else would I?"

Slowly recovering, Sharpay smirked at him. "Because you like me?"

Chad made a disgusted face. "Are you kidding?"

"There are other ways to get me to stop talking, you know," she said coyly. "Many, many people have attempted to shut me up, but they've never kissed me before."

He squirmed, a bit uncomfortably. "So?"

She picked another green mochi out of the box and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "So... you like me."

Chad's jaw dropped. "I do not!"

"Yup." She took a bite. "You do. Admit it."

"No," he said stubbornly. "What, do you like _me_?"

Sharpay wasn't falling for his trap; she sat up straight and said slyly, "Hey, _you_ kissed _me_."

Chad opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, at a loss for words. Her frowned deeply as he considered Sharpay's words. "But... I don't... I think..."

He watched her take a bite of the green mochi, the one that he thought looked absolutely, positively disgusting. "_What_ flavor is that?" he burst out finally, using any excuse he could to change the subject. "It looks like vomit."

Sharpay sent him a disparaging look. "It's green tea."

"It looks horrible."

"Well, it's not."

"You have weird taste buds."

"Maybe you do," she retorted.

"I thought _you_ tasted good," Chad shot back, before realizing what he'd actually said. Heat exploded just under his skin.

Sharpay smirked triumphantly. "I knew it."

"Yeah... well..." he stammered, trying to get over from another bout of embarrassment, "Still. Green tea ice cream? The thought makes my stomach churn."

"The thought of you used to make my stomach churn," Sharpay said, "but things change." She bit out of the green mochi again.

Chad frowned. "Well... maybe I'll try it."

Before he could reach for one, though, Sharpay's mouth was on his. The kiss was more adventurous than their last; Sharpay's lips parted and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. The ball of ice cream was still lingering inside, and the their tongues worked together in transferring it from Sharpay's mouth to his.

They pulled away after their success and Chad swallowed the food.

"How'd you like it?" inquired Sharpay, licking her lips.

Chad grinned at her. "I think I've found my new favorite flavor."


End file.
